Farm-gate.



G. J. LANE.

FARM GATE.

APPLICATION FILED 001225, 1911.

1,035,978. I PatentedAug.20,1912.

.Z. I R 1' INVENTOR:

Comelz'as Jlane v UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

boimiantus areas, or OLEVELAND,-bI-Iio, ASSIGNOR To THE CYCLONE wovenWIRE 7 muonoommnm'or onnvnmrnn, 0310, A coaromrrron or OHIO.

FARM-GATE.

Application filed October 25, 1911. Serial ri 656,703]

vTo"fallen/tom it may concern:

B ""tknownthat I, CORNELIUS J. LANE, a

citizenof the United States, residing at Clevela r ld imthe county ofCuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented acertam new and usefulImprovement in Farm-Gates, of

' whi'cliYth: f following is afu'll, clear, and-en h toany desiredheight above its hinged end "to form "an opening beneath the free end Ianimals and fowls while obstructing the act description.

Thisf"in'i 'ention relates to a farm'gate so Constructed that its freeend may be raised that willpermit or thepassage of smaller -f r those oflarger s z It consists of a gate frame composed of "rigid vertical endmembers to which are flexibly -"c0n 1'1'ected ,at their intersectingpoints one or more rigid longitudinal or horizontal members by suitablepivot pins having their axes disposed transversely to theflat'plane'ofthe gate so that the frame willflex on these pivot jointswhen its free or swingrng end is belng raised or lowered. Thespacefbetween the end members may be filled by longitudinal wiresflexibly connect-f fed to the .end membersor by flexible woventhe'lu'pper portion of the hinged end of the wire fabric'fiexiblyconnected to the rigid barsfof the gate frame in such manner as to admltof the free movements of the fabric Strands in correspondence withthemembers I gate and extending thence diagonally {down' ward to andaround a suitable guide near the lower portion of the free or swingingend of the gate, thcnce upwardly to adjust:

able engagementwvith a suitable holdingde 'vlce supported on the gateabovesaid guide.

The "iiwention further consists in such minor contrlbutory details ofconstruction as will hereinafter be described and speci'ficallyset forthin the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is,

a side elevation of a gate embodying in preferred form the features ofthis'invention, the gate being shown in normal closed position. Fig. 2is a similar view of the gate in position with its free end slightlyraised above its normal positionabovc the ground to admit of the passagelieneath it of the smaller sizes of farm animal stock. Fig. 3

'- Specification ofLettersPatent. Patented Aug. 20,1912. A

is an enlarged perspective view of a pre-.

ferred form of catch or latch adapted .to

hold the gate from swinging while admit-f ting of the raising of itsfree end. Fig, 4

shows one-of the many modified forms of catch or holder for the free endof the adjustable flexible-tension truss. Fig- 5 shows somemodifications in the details of construction of the'gate frame.

In its preferred form, as shown in Figs. 1

and 2 of-the drawing, thegate frame consists of rigid vertical end postsor. bars-A and B, between which extend rigid top and bottom longitudinalbars Candi) pivotally connected at their intersections to the. end,

bars at a, Z), c and (Z. A rigid vertical brace bar E pivotal] yconnected to theglongitudinal bars C and .D may if desired. rigid framebars A, B, C and D constitulea rectangular outer frame; the'space.within which may be filled with,.woven wire fabric G flexibly jointed atthein'tersection of the wires and flexibly connected to the frame bars.

Some of the many modifications inv the gate construction are shown inFig. 5 in which a single longitudinal'bar H extends as a strut bracebetween the end bars A, B; tothe central portions of which its ends arepivotally connected. Instead ofthe flexible woven. Wire fabric G thespace between the end bars is filled with straight wires J barbed orother-wise as desired, these wires being flexibly connected at theirendsto the end ba'rsA, B, and, being under tension, act

in opposition to the strut member .to form arigid gate frame. I

The really essential feature of the gate frame lies in its pivotaljointsor flexible connections that admit. of itsfree end being raisedand lowered while the hinge bar remains stationary in this respect.

A tension truss K isssecuredat one end to the hinge side of the gate andextends thence diagonally downward to and around a suitable curvedclevis guide or sheave L secured upon the gate near its free end and ina lowerplaue thnn the'fixed end 'of the, truss. This "truss rod may beflexible throughout its entire length, if desired, but its free end Z:must be flexible to pass around the guide L. Secured on the gate abovethe guide is a suitable holding device: M adapted to engage and hold, inany adjusted also be employed In this preferredform the. four AVFilLFBLEnew position, the free end of the tension truss which extends upwardlyto it from the guide L. If this free end of the truss is composed ofchain a projecting hook adapted to pass through one of the open linkswould form a good holding device, or a pair.

of prongs spaced sufficiently to receive one of the links flatwisebetween them would also answer the purpose very well. If, on

.the other hand, wire cable N gse'e Fig. 4)

were used for'this flexible-end o the truss, a

pair of, slightly diverging prongs 0 would doubtless hold the cable ifit were tightly jammed into the gap, or the cable might be provided witha series of fixed knots, 'balls' or other suitable enlargement's n thatwould not pass through the gap and would obviate.

the necessity'for pressing the cable into fric 'tional engagement withthe sides ofthe At the hinge end of the gate any prefer-red.

form of hinges Q may be employed to swing the gate. onthe rigid po'st B.At the. free gaged by. a U-shapedlatch U'shown in Fig.

endQof the gate the bar B is preferably en- 3 to hold the gate from'swinging. The

closed end of the U is hung in staples driven into the fence post '1,preferably on a flattened surface thereof, while its prongs I u standout into the path of thebar B emf bracing itateach side These prongs are.made long enough to provide for the slight shortening of the gate whenityis raised above itsnormal'position." a

In adjustingthe free end of the gate -to diflerent heights the length ofthe diagonal portion of the tension truss is changed and the operation,may be effected by one hand.

only of the operator. In raising the end-0f the'gate he pulls upwardlyon the free flexible end of the truss in' the same direction as thedesired movement of the gate end I '1 ,so", that the lifting force ismost advantagdusly applied both to lift the gate and to shorten thediagonal portion of the truss, m'akingthe operation of adjusting thepo-.

sition of the gate so very easy and simple thati t may be readilyperformed, even In the dark, by anyone possessing ordinary intclligeiice. Another "advantage of an end- .lift gate lies in'the fact that whensufficiently raised it admits of the passage under itof wi|'ul'hlo'\vnsnow which will frequently start to bank against the lower strands of awire'fence'and form the nu--' cleus of deep drifts. With a gate fiendraised to give sufiicientclearance'a-bove the ground the drifting snowwhich would otherwise ban'k against the lower strands ,is blown throughthe gateway and the.passage thus ke t cleared.

ile the truss rod lS shown conventionally in the drawing as extendingfrom the top. corner at-the hing'ed end to-the lower corner at the freeend of the gate frame, an

advantageous disposition for its function as a diagonaltruss, it is notessential to the invention'that the. truss be extended-.be-

tween such extreme points either-as to height or length along the. gateframe. That is to say, that so long as 1t is given a suflieient working,diagonal angle, the ends of the .truss may be secured to" therigid framemembers-at anydesired elevations .andto suitable points' at or'near therespective ends .of the gate.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and usefultherein is:

1. In combination, a gate frame having vertical end posts withlongitudinal member's, flexibly connected thereto whereby the hingedend, a guide secured on the framenear the free end of-the gate, atension truss secured at one end to the. frame near the hinged'end ofthegate and extending t enee diagonally downward to and; around. smd

guide from whence'its flexibleyfreeehd x-- I tends .vei'tically wherebylifting power applied to said free end of the truss above sald guidetends to raise the free end of thegate free end of the gate maybe raisedabove its:

and to shorten the diagonal portion of-the truss.

2.' In combination, a gate frame having 110 vertlcal end posts withlongitudinal mem-" bers .flexibly connected thereto whereby the free endof the gate may be raised aboveits hinged end, a guide secured on theframe I near the free end of the gate, a tension truss secured at oneend to the frame near the hinged end'o'f the gate and extending thencediagonallydownward to and. around said guide from whence itsflexiblefree end ex: tends vertically, with suitable securing means on the. gateabove said guide to hold the adjustable free end of the truss.

' In testimony whereof, I hereunto a-fiix signature in the presence oftwo witnesses. 4 lORNELl US J. LANE. A

\Vitnesses:

W M; A. SKINKLE,

It. SULLIVAN.

